Act Grammar Rules

subject

what the sentence is about

predicate

what is happening to the subject

phrase

part of sentence which does not contain its own subject and predicate

independent clause

part of sentence which contains its own subject and predicate

independent clause

makes sense on its own

dependent clause

does not make sense on its own

introductory phrase

a word added to the beginning of an independent clause

run-on sentence

a sentence with 2 or more independent clauses with no punctuation or connector between them

comma splice

a sentence with 2 or more independent clauses separated by a comma

fragment

part of a sentence written as it were a sentence

dependent clause fragment

although, because, despite, what, when

verbal phrase fragment

to jump, to sleep, jumping, sleeping, jumped, slept

appositive fragment

group of nouns or words that describe a noun

matching sentence parts fragment

missing necessary sentence parts

modifier

a word or phrase or entire clause that adds detail or description to a sentence

interest

while modifiers are great for adding _________ to sentences, they must be used caregully so that the reader understands the details being added

dangling modifier

A _______ occurs when the subject of the modifier is unclear. Most dangling modifiers occur at the beginning of sentences. but they can also occur at the end.

Misplaced modifiers

occur when the subject of the modifier is unclear because the modifier is poorly placed

Comma

used to set off introductory clauses or phrases

introductory

do not use a comma if the beginning clauses or phrases are not_______

conjuction

use a comma before a ________ that begins a clause

conjunctions

and, but, for, or nor

objectives

either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also

commas

use to set off non-essential expressions if expression does not provide essential info, it will disrupt the flow

essential info

do not use commas in the following examples because the expressions provide ________ ____ unlike the previous examples

comma

use to separate items in a list

semicolon

separates two independent clauses (when not separated by a comma and conjuction

not

do _____ use if two clauses are connected by " , conj " or if one is a dependent clause or phrase

colon

use after an independent clause to introduce a list or illustration

parenthesis

use to set off explanations or definitions

apostrophe

indicates missing letter or letters in a contraction

apostrophe + s

after a singular noun to form the possesive

plural noun

use an apostrophe after a ______ ___ to form the possessive

indefinite pronoun; personal pronoun

use an apostrophe to form the posessive of the ____ ____ but NOT ____ _____

periods and commas

place ____________ following a quotation inside the quotation marks

semicolons and colons

place _____________ outside the quotation marks

commas and periods

place _______________ outside the quotation marks except if they belong with the quote

nouns

person, place, thing, attribute, idea

s

add ___ to most plural nouns

y; +ies; singular; y; consonate

drop the ___ and add ____ when the _________ noun ends in ___ preceded by a ________

es; s, sh, ch, x, z

add ___ to singular nouns ending in __, __, __, __, __

pronoun

words that take the place of nouns

clear reference

pronouns must clearly refer to its antecedents

case

pronouns can be in the subjective, objective, or posessive

subjective

pronouns used as the subject of a sentence

objective

pronouns are the object of a verb or prepostition

possessive

pronouns that show ownership

number

pronouns may be singular or plural

indefinite pronouns

the pronouns are always singular

gender

a singular pronoun referring to a 3rd person may be feminine masculine or neutral. all other pronouns including plural pronouns, are neutral

agreement

each pronoun must agree in number and gender with the noun, noun phrase, or pronoun it refers to

action verbs

describe an action

linking verbs

connect subject to a complement

singular and plural verbs

most singular 3rd person verbs end in -s

verb tense

past present future

present tense

basic form of the verb which refers to something that is occurring generally true or always true

3rd person singular

formed by adding s to the 1st person form

present participle

expresses present action; form by adding -ing to the present tense; all are preceded by helper verbs

past tense

add d, ed, t to regular verb to form...

past participle

expresses past action; regular and irregular verbs are preceded by helper verbs; do not use the past participle form of an irregular verb without helper verb

future

precede present tense form of the verb with will or shall

tense shift

verbs should reflect time sequence if events occurred at the same time then the verbs should have the same tense

acceptable tense shift

when verbs represent events that happened at different times

faulty tense shift

common to shift between present and past tenses

S-V agreement

subjects and verbs of sentences must agree